Top 5 Chicago Cubs at Colorado Rockies player performances

As the Chicago Cubs come to Coors Field to take on the Colorado Rockies, I thought it would be a good time to look back at the Cubs at Rockies games of old. I am hoping to make a series of this for everywhere and every team the Colorado Rockies play. Credit for this idea goes entirely to my good friend Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons), who offered it to me and I just had to run with it.

Without further ado, let’s get into the best Coors Field performances for the Colorado Rockies against the Chicago Cubs.

Honorable Mention: Ryan Raburn’s game-tying double in the 11th turns into a walk-off win for the Colorado Rockies on a throwing error to home on August 19, 2016.

This one almost made the list as it is the single highest WPA (Win Probability Added) to qualify for this article, but it felt wrong. However, it is also far too strange to leave without mention.

In a truly great rally, the Colorado Rockies fought back from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game in the eighth inning. The game went into the 11th inning, where Dexter Fowler plated Willson Contreras to take the lead in the top of the frame. With one out in the bottom of the 11th, Nick Hundley singled to bring up Ryan Raburn. Raburn lined the ball into deep right field, Javy Báez took the relay, and threw it right past the catcher into the dugout. Raburn was almost to third base when the ball was thrown out of play. The umpire declared Raburn was not only safe at third base but also able to take home on the error, ending the game, swinging the game from favoring the Cubs to a Colorado Rockies victory with a single swing and an awful throw.

Now on to the true list.

5. Todd Helton: 2-homer game on April 25, 2001

Todd Helton dragged the awful Colorado Rockies pre-humidor 2001 pitching staff into a win twice in this game, and they tried desperately to lose. The Toddfather started the scoring with a three-run home run in the first. Denny Neagle spent several innings losing that lead, with the Cubs taking the lead in the fifth. Todd Helton came up to the plate in the seventh and crushed another home run that scored Neifi Perez and gave the lead to Colorado 5-4. Unfortunately, the Rockies pitching would let another run cross, and Todd Helton was intentionally walked after Terry Shumpert and Larry Walker reached base. The Colorado offense would prevail, walking off on a Jeff Cirillo sacrifice fly.

Without Helton being intentionally walked, Shumpert would not have been in position for the Cirillo sacrifice fly. Helton directly contributed to every run produced in this game, not to mention the fact that he also blasted two home runs as well.

4. Jhoulys Chacín: Complete game shutout on April 15, 2011

Jhoulys Chacín is a Colorado Rockies legend. He should’ve been an All-Star for the club several times in the early 2010s (he posted 6.1 bWAR in 2013!). But that is beyond the point because, in April of 2011, he blanked the Cubs with a complete game shutout. He allowed eight different baserunners but was clutch enough to not allow any of them to cross home plate over nine innings.

3. Germán Márquez: 8 IP 8K 0ER and 1-for-3 with 2 RBI on May 10, 2017

Beyond Ryan Raburn’s extra innings antics, Germán Márquez’s stellar pitching performance on May 10, 2017, was the highest WPA to qualify for this list. He took a no-hitter into the seventh (ended by new Rockies player Kris Bryant) and put the game away in the bottom of that inning with a two-run single to put the Colorado Rockies up 3-0. Márquez put down the Cubs in the eighth and Greg Holland got the save in the ninth. This genuinely might be the best performance on the list, but I have it at third. Why could that be? Well, some accomplishments will almost always shoot you to the top of the list, and I have two of them coming up next.

2. Troy Tulowitzki: Hit for the cycle on August 10, 2009

5-5 2B 3B HR 7RBI 2R is one of the best stat-lines ever accrued in a Colorado Rockies game. It is truly a shame to see this performance at only number 2. Cycles are one of the hardest things for a batter to pull off in baseball and Tulo’s came in the middle of one of the Colorado Rockies’ greatest seasons. It’s an impressive line, and he was directly involved in 80% of the Rockies’ 10 runs that game. I know it must seem like heresy to put this at only number 2, but once you see number 1, you will completely understand.

1. Carlos Gonzalez: Hit for the Cycle on July 31, 2010

That’s right, CarGo’s cycle is, of course, on the list. The 4-5 2RBI and a sacrifice fly stat line are honestly not as impressive as Troy Tulowitzki’s cycle, but the fairytale way it ended easily puts it at the top of this list. A walk-off home run to complete the cycle and put down the rally? Easily one of the best Colorado Rockies moments and definitely the best moment playing the Cubs at Coors Field.

Note: Data for this article was provided by Baseball Reference.